Glad you enjoyed the read! I must admit, occasionally I go through this thread and I am immediately transported back down memory lane. The early days down at the creek and the long, hot summers spent at TNA. My first 70cm carp. 100+ hauls. Good times. I've moved about a bit since I started this thread, but my first (rental) place in Burwood - which was very close to the creek - must have had literally hundreds of carp buried in the backyard. I used to take all of them home! Now I usually kill them on the spot, puncture their swim bladder and return them from whence they came. Remember, carp cannot be returned to the water alive.

Got home early from work and was a bit tired…but not so tired that I couldn’t do a spot of fishing. It was a pretty good day, and the pressure was 1022 which is a pretty good sign apparently. So I hoped on my bike and rode to my ‘new’ spot. I was disappointed to find that the water was quite dirty from the recent rain we’ve had. This makes fishing in the creek difficult as you can’t sight fish and the fish take longer to find your bait, or in my case – they didn’t find the bait at all. I didn’t even have a nibble in my ‘new’ spot which I thought would be a sure thing this summer. I toyed with the idea of going home, but thought better of it, so headed to my ‘traditional’ spot. Here, the signs were a bit better – the water, although discoloured, provided plenty of carp silhouettes swimming about. And here, I was getting bites at least, although I was having trouble hooking them. I left my bread from last week in my bag and was still using it for bait. It had lost all its ‘doughiness’ and wasn’t staying on my hook for more than a second. I threw a heap of bread into the creek. This had a two-step effect; first, it attracted a lot of ducks; second, it attracted a lot of carp. I thought the carp were taking the p1ss. After the ducks disappeared they literally just swam under the bread and ‘boffed’ it off the surface – right in front of me. By this stage, what little bread I had was useless – it would just fly off the hook as soon as I cast out, but still the carp were smashing everything off the surface. This gave me an idea, or rather I remembered a piece of advice that a couple of people have suggested to me over the years; floating bread crust. It was literally the only option I had. Necessity is the mother of invention as they say. So I put a hook through the bread crust, cast out, using the float as nothing more than a weight device that got my bait out to the area where the carp were. Now I had to play a game of cat and mouse…er, I mean duck and bread. I had to keep the bread away from the ducks that were swanning about. I managed to do this my throwing them some bread in an area away from my fishing line. Like they had done all night, the carp couldn’t help themselves with my bread on the surface. I saw a huge one swim up to ‘my’ bread crust next to the float and literally inhale the bread. It was so exhilarating watching this. My float submerged with gusto right alongside it. Pretty early on I knew it was a big one. I just hoped my gear – which I haven’t re-rigged since last summer – would hold up. As I was playing it I was praying to God that I wouldn’t lost it, that it wouldn’t get snagged or the line get cut on a rock or something. I really didn’t want to be reporting on the 70cm+ carp that got away (again). I knew it was big, but I didn’t really know how big. A couple of times I got in close in, was about to net it, and it just gave me a look of distain and basically said ‘I don’t think so’ and swam off again. I was so scared I was going to lose it. The fight seemed like an eternity, but I eventually managed to land it after 3 or 4 attempts to net it. It was Fu**ing huge! I literally had trouble carrying it up the bank (I had to wade in to net it). Then I started shaking. Then I got the bragmat out. 78cm. I’ll say that again: nearly 80cm. A new personal record. An official stonker. I shook some more. I think I went into shock for a bit. A really wanted to stop a passerby and get a photo with me and the beast, but was a little embarrassed to do so in such an ‘upmarket’ area. I kind of regret not doing it actually, but they're wasn't a lot of people around as it was getting dark.

Isn’t it funny how an off-the-cuff, spontaneous decisions to go fishing that result in your best and biggest catch ever. I was this close to not going fishing today and I nearly packed up and left after I had no success in the first spot I went to. I am so stoked, words can’t describe it. A decision to kill a couple of hours before dark has resulted in my biggest catch ever. I’ve planned trips to go fishing and not even caught a carp half this size.

Official weigh-in was 78cm on the flat. A new personal record. But the possibilities remain. I honestly believe I have lost carp - in the creek and elsewhere - that are even bigger than this. The carp are out there.

2018/19 Total: 4 (1647)

Attachments

Last edited by Cornacarpio on Fri Oct 12, 2018 9:35 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Well, I went down to the creek today to try and replicate yesterday's effort. More bait, more time, more fish right? Nope. Didn't even get a look in. Same spot, fish were still there, but not really interested in my bait. I moved around a bit and tried a few spots - got a couple of touches - but was unable to capitalise on my limited opportunities. Desperate not to go home fishless, I tried a landlocked pond that I frequent occasionally that is known to have carp in it. There was a guy there flicking soft plastics and catching small redfin, which this establishment is also known for. Again, I got a few touches before I finally managed to land a goldfish to the tune of 30cm just before dark. A bit disappointing after yesterday, but I was also happy that I at least caught something. But that's fishing I guess.